Key-ring.



.No. 862,197. PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

T. F. PRYOR, JR. KEY RING.

APPLIOA'I'ION FILED JUNE 11, 1906.

WITNESSES:

THOMAS F. PRYOR, JR, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

KEY-RING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application filed June 11,1906. Serial No. 321,095.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that THOMAS F. PRYoR, J12, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key-Rings; and he does hereby declare the following to be a lull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reierence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a key-ring, and is designed to provide a ring that will not become accidentally displaced, and one in which the holding means, when being closed, acts to lock the parts together, and when the ring is being closed, all that is necessary to do is to snap the locking means shut.

A further object of the invention is to provide this locking means in such a way that it cannot be opened unless the key-ring itself is compressed.

Another object of the invention is to provide the locking means or the latch with a ring that provides for the manual operation of the latch, and also furnishes a means for suspending the key-ring. I

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying 4 drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the keyring closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the ring opened. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3, 3, in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side view of a modification, and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5, 5, in Fig. 4.

The key-ring has the body portion 10 which is shown circular, but may be made of any other configuration, and it is made of resilient material. Two ends of the body portion are flattened or narrowed, as at 11 and 12, and these ends normally have a space 13 between them. On the flattened end 11 are arranged the two strips to latch the contour of the body portion, and these form the latch 15. Near the free end of the latch is a pin 16 that bridges the spacebetween them, and a ring 17 is provided to cover the pin when the key-ring is closed, and also provide means for operating a latch, and also for suspending the key-ring, if desired, from a chain, In the end 12 is arranged a notch 18 that is provided on its edge, nearest the latch, with a nose 19, and this merges, by means of the gradual slope 20, into the outer periphery of the ring. The function of this slope is that when the key-ring is closed from an open position, it is accomplished by simply pressing down on the latch 15 with the finger, and this operation causes the pin 16 to engage the slope 20, and the ends 11 and 12 are forced together until the pin 16 slides over the nose 19, and then the ring is locked, as in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that the ring can be closed and locked by one operation, and it is not necessary to compress or manipulate the body portion of the key-ring. However, when it is necessary to open the key-ring, the body portion is squeezed until the space 13 is about taken up, when the latch can be pulled up, as shown in Fig. 2 by means of the ring 17, and the keys can be put onto the ring through the space 13.

In Figs. 4 and 5, I show a construction in which the ring and the pin are combined, and I illustrate a ring 21 that has the portion 22 run through the two parts of the latch 15, and this portion 22 does the locking over the nose 19. These structures make a device that is cheaply made, easily shut, and not apt to be accidentally opened.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A key ring comprising a resilient body portion having flattened ends, the ends being normally separated by a space between them, a latch having a strip on each side of the flattened ends, the latch being pivoted to one of the ends, a pin between the strips near the free end of the latch, the free end of the body portion having a notch in its outer edge and having a nose on the wall of the notch toward the latch, the nose merging in a curved edge to the end of the flattened portion, whereby in the closing of the latch the pin will travel on the curved edge to draw the ends ot the body portion together and no obstruction is offered to the pin engaging the nose in the notch.

2. A keyring comprising a resilient body portion having flattened ends with a space between them, a latch pivoted on one of the ends, the other end of the body portion having a notch with a nose on the Wall toward the latch, and a ring pivoted transversely in the latch to engage the nose of the notch when the keyring is shut.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing, I have here unto set my hand this 8th day of June, 1900.

THOMAS F. PRYOR, JR. Witnesses WM. [-1. CAMFIELD, E. A. Pnnn. 

